Carl Severson pens the BLACK BEAR POST in Florida and he responded to the article I posted earlier this week involving Florida Fish & Wildlife looking to delist Bears in the Sunshine State.............Carmel's comments reflect the bias that many hunters and State Game Mgrs reflect in their commentary about carnivores............Thank you Carmel for your insights!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rick Meril <rick.meril@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 5:07 PM
Subject: Re: Black Bears todays blog
To: Carmel Severson <catsa@bellsouth.net>

Carmel.........you and I are on the same page!!,,,,thanks for your comments

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On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Carmel Severson ; wrote:

Hunters say a carefully controlled hunt, with a limited number of permits, would reduce incidents of bears ambling down suburban streets and invading backyards 

I live in Sth Florida, we have bears in an area not far away, they don't amble down the suburban streets,invade yards and have not been a significant problem to people at all. We had one young bear come into an area in western that caused a little stir but that is rare.

< "Take the alligator--since we've been hunting them, they stay away from people," said Phil Walters, a Tampa alligator hunting guide.>

 As for Alligators not going near people because of "hunting", that's BS, we have alligators in yards & down streets often, hunting has had no positive impact on preventing them interacting with people at all.

<These 500 or 600 pound bears will be hunted down pretty fast, but they're going to start to get wily.  "Just a little bit of hunting pressure and harassment will keep these bears away from people," Walters said.>

Most of the bears in Florida don't get that heavy. Hunting them will kill them but not instill fear. If we have a problem bear we should use the same proven techniques they do in Whistler Canada, rubber bullets, crackers & a well trained barking dog to scare the bear, is usually effective. I've hiked in Whistler they have lots of bears in and around the urban community & few problems considering bears & humans literally live in each others backyards

- Carmel Severson.